Runway.



J. w. DAWSON.

RUNWAY.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 23, 1915.

Patented July 18, 1916.

.W.Daws0n UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH w. DAWSON, on ST. LOUIS, MIssOURI, AssIeNOR 'ro RARRY-WRHMILLERMAOIIINERY COMPANY, A CORPORATION or MISSOURI.

RUNWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18,1916.

' Application filed April 23, 1915. Serial No. 23,311.

panying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a runway particularly adapted to be used inconnection with a carrier from which bottles or other articles aredischarged onto the runway.

Prior to this invention, mechanically driven bottle carriers have beenmoved step by step to carry bottles to a runway; and the devices havebeen so constructedthat the bottles drop by gravity from the bottlecarrier to the runway. The discharge end of the bottle carrier liesclose to the runway while the bottles are passing from thecar- 'rier tothe runway. -If, instead of passing entirely from a bottle carrier, abottle is accidentally stopped with one of its ends in the bottlecarrier and its Opposite'end Over the runwa a continued movement of thecarrier w" force the bottle onto'the runway with the result of breakingthe bottle, or breaking or bending some part of the machine. The bottlesusually pass entirely from the bottle carrier before it moves away fromthe runway, so the accidental breakage does not occur frequently.However, the carrier moves automatically without the attention of anoperator, and the '.;;"-loottles drop by gravity, the movement of :thebottles being more or less uncertain, and

'I have found in practice that bottles as well as parts of the machineare sometimes accidentally broken on account of the failure of thebottles to pass entirely from the bottle carrier before thelatter movesaway from the runway.

The object of my invention is to produce a runway adapted to yield so asto prevent My improved runway is adapted to receive bottles as they passfrom a bottle carrier, and if a bottle is only partially discharged fromthe carrier, the runway will yield to permitthe bottle to travel withthe carrier without injury to the bottle orany part of the machine.

Figure I is-a vertical section showing my runway associated with twobottle carriers.

Fig. II is a fragmentary view of one of the bottle carriers, looking in'the direction indicated by the arrow II, Fig. I. Fig. III is an enlargedtop or plan view, partly broken away, the runway support being shown insection. Fig. IV is a transverse section takenon the line'IV--IV, Fig.III. Fig. V is a fragmentary section taken on the line V-V, Fig. IV. Fig.VI is a fragsection taken on the line VI--VI,

4, and bottle holders 5 secured to said sprocket chain.

Each bottle holder 5 is provided with partition members 5 (Fig. II)which divide it into a series of bottle receiving pockets. Each bottleholder 5 is also provided with a gate E having transverse retaining rods6 adapted to retain the bottles in the bottle pockets, rods 7 to gate Eoccupies the position shown in Fig. I, the retaining rods 6, formingpart of said gate, are positioned to retain the bottles in the bottlepocket. The long rods 7 are slidably fitted to the bottle holder 5, sothat the gate may be. shifted to locate the retaining rods 6 at a pointopposite the partition members 5', thereby permitting the bottles todrop from the bottle holder. The

means for opening the gates E to permit the bottles to escape from thebottle holders, comprises a roller 10 secured to arod 11.

vwhich the retaining rods 6 are secured, and a head '8 connecting therods 7. When the This gate opening device does not travel with thebottle carrier 0. It hes ad acent to the upper end of a runway R, andwhen a bottle pocket 5 reaches the runwaythe gate opening device 10-11is moved horizontally to open the gate E, thus permitting the botties todrop onto the runway R. The bottles slide along the runway B and passinto the bottle carrier B.

I do not deem it necessary to show or describe all of the elements ofthe bottle carriers B and C, for these bottle carriers are shown merelyfor the purpose of illustrating certain advantages of the runway It, andit is to be understood that the inventlon 1s not restricted to thebottle carriers. 1

The bottles X drop by gravity from the bottle carrier C, and itsometimes happens that a bottle, instead of passmg entirely from thecarrier C, will projectirom the carrier as shown by dotted lines 1n Fig.I. In this event the projecting portion of the bottle will lie directlyabove a portion of the runway R, and when the bottle carrier C continuesto move downwardly the runway will yield to permit the bottle to travelwith the carrier, without injury to the bottle or any part of themachine. y

The yieldable runway preferably comprises a series of 'flexible trackbars 15 adapted to support the bottles, and a series of flexible guidebars 16 associated with said track bars. The track bars 15 arepreferably arranged in pairs, each pair constituting a bottle track; andthe guide bars 16 are preferably associated with the track bars toprevent the bottles from accidentally rolling from one track to another.

The means for supporting the bars 15 and 16 preferably comprises anangle bar 17 and a bar 18 located at the discharge end of the runway.The lower ends of the bars 15 and 16 are preferably turned downwardlyand arranged between the bars 17 and 18, the bar 18 being notched toreceive the downturned portions 15' and 16, as shown in Fig. V. 19designates pivot members (Fig. III) fitted .to the side walls 1 andrigidly secured to the bars 17 and 18 by means of bolts 20. The bars 17and 18 are also connected to each other by bolts 21 which lie betweenthe downturned portions of the bars 15 and 16. Itwill be noted that allof the bars 15 and 16 are firmly secured at the discharge end of therunway, and that the entire runwaymay be turned about the axis of thepivot members 19 to locate the intake end of the runway in the desiredposition with respect to the bottle carrier C. After'the runway has beenadjusted to the desired position the pivot members 19 are firmly securedto the side walls 1 by means of set screws 22, Fig. III. The upper endsof the guide bars 16 are preferably turned downwardly as shown in Figs.I and IV.

The runway I have shown is a comb shaped structure, the bars 15 and 16corresponding to the teeth of a comb, and it Wlll be noted that the freeends of the flexible track bars 15 may be readily bent laterally inresponse to the downward pressure of the bottle, so as to permit thebottle to pass through the runway. When a bottle X accidentally stops inthe position shown by dotted lines in Fig. I, it lies immediately abovethe free ends of a pair of track bars 15, Fig. VI, and as the bottlecarrier descends the bottle forces these free ends away from each otherand passes between them, without injuring the runway. lhe flexible orelastic track bars return to their normal position immediately afterbeing spread apart by a bottle.

Iclaim:--

1. The combination of a bottle carrier, and a bottle runway adapted toreceive the bottles which pass from said carrier, said bottle runwaycomprising a series of flexible tracks adapted to support bottles, asupport to which said flexible tracks are secured, the upper ends ofsaid flexible tracks being free to spread apart in response to thepressure of a bottle at the intake end of the runway, so as to permit aprojecting bottle to travel with said carrier.

2. The combination of a bottle carrier, and a yieldable bottle runwayassociated with said bottle carrier, said yieldable bottle runway havingflexible track members provided with free ends which lie adjacent tosaid bottle carrier, and said free ends being adapted to bend laterallyin permit a projecting bottle to pass between them in response. to themovement of said bottle carrler.

3. The combination of a bottle carrier, and a yieldable bottle runwayassociated with said bottle carrier, said yieldablebottle runwaycomprising a series of flexible tracks arranged in pairs and having freeends which lie adjacent to said bottle carrier, the free ends of eachpair of tracks being adapted to spread apart in response to the pressureof a bottle projecting from said bottle carrier, thereby allowing theprojecting portion of a bottle to pass between said free ends inresponse to the movement of said bottle carrier.

4. A bottle runway comprising a series of flexible track members adaptedto support -bottles, and a rigid support for said yieldable trackmembers, said yieldable track members being secured, at the dischargeend of the runway, to said rigid support, and the said yieldable trackmembers being free to spread apart at the intake end of the runway so asto permit a bottle to be forced between. them.

' 5. The combination of a runway compris- 5 ing a support, a series offlexible track members secured to said support, said flexible trackmembers being free to bend independently of each other at the intake endof the runway, and a bottle carrier adapted to discharge bottles ontothe free portions of said track members, said bottle 'carrier beinglocated adjacent to the free portions of said track members for thepurpose described. 1

, JOSEPH W. DAWSON.

